The present invention relates to a neck bending apparatus and more particularly to an apparatus for bending or flexing a cervical region, i.e. a so-called neck portion, of a patient who is lying down, which is utilized in association with an MR (Magnetic Resonance) imaging system for imaging a condition of the neck portion of the patient. The magnetic resonance imaging system is one for utilizing a magnetic resonance phenomenon and inspecting the condition of the patient body in response to a magnetic resonance signal from the patient.
Generally, when it is required to diagnose cervical disk herniatron, rear vertical sclerodesmia and the like of a patient, forward or rearward bending or flexture condition of the neck portion of the patient is diagnosed by utilizing an X-ray imaging system. On the other hand, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system is also utilized, as a system superior to the X-ray imaging system, for the extraction of centram, intervertebral disk, myelon and the like. In view of the above fact, recently, there has been an increased demand for utilizing the MRI system for the imaging of the forwardly or rearwardly, i.e. backward, bending condition of the neck portion of the patient.
The principal theory of the MRI system is as follows.
The MRI system carries out an imaging operation by assuming a subject portion of a patient as a plurality of sliced imaging surfaces and the MRI system includes a coil device having an opening into which only a subject portion or a body portion including the subject portion of the patient to be imaged is arranged. When, under this condition, the MRI system is operated, a uniform magnetostatic field is formed in the coil device into which the subject portion of the patient is positioned. Next, an oblique magnetic field is multiplied to the magnetostatic field and a high frequency pulse of magnetic resonance frequency (RF pulse) corresponding to a desired sliced surface of the subject portion of the patient is applied to this magnetic field to cause the magnetic resonance phenomenon to the subject portion to be imaged. During this operation, an MR signal is caused to the subject portion of the patient and the MR signal recieved is then subjected to an image recomposition processing to thereby form a magnetic resonance radiotomy image (MR image) of the desired sliced surface of the subject portion of the patient.
In a conventional MRI system including a coil device utilized for imaging neck and head portions of the patient, the coil device is equiped with a circular or elliptic coil having a reduced inner diameter for improving an S/N (signal-to-nosie ratio). Accordingly, in the conventional MRI system, the patient cannot bend his neck portion once positioned in the coil, so that the imaging of the neck portion was carried out with the neck portion being not bent. Thus, the subject portion, i.e. the neck portion of the patient may not be precisely diagnosed.